Ever since I was a young girl, growing up on a small island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, I have always had a deep love of books. I was lucky enough to be raised in a home where reading was highly valued, where books could be found on shelves, coffee tables, night stands, in piles underfoot…it was almost impossible to move around the house without tripping over a book.

When I moved to Canada in December 2001, the Chapters down the street quickly became my favorite hang out spot. I was enchanted. It was the first time I had ever seen so many books in one place! Somehow, by accident or design, one of the first books I bough there was Bitten by Kelly Armstrong, the first book in her Women of the Otherworld series. It was the author’s fist novel and, at the time it had only recently been published.

I was immediately enthralled by the story of Elena Michaels, the world’s only female werewolf who lived in Toronto. As a young woman, she was a character I could admire and root for – strong, resilient, independent, smart, with a promising career and in-touch with her sexuality. And, just like me, her home and family were somewhere else far away and she was forced to work hard to build a life for herself in Toronto.

After Bitten, I went on to read most of Kelly Armstrong’s novels.

Fast-forward a decade – I meet a sexy writer online who (and I didn’t know this at the time) writes for Bitten, the TV show based on Armstrong’s books! In Canada the series is on Space and in the US it airs on Syfy and Netflix. It can also be seen in numerous other countries around the world. The show is about to enter its third season. Every episode has a large budget and incorporates impressive special effects. Over the years it’s been seen by millions of people, many of whom may never have heard of Kelly Armstrong or her novels had they not been turned into a TV show.

I have since then had the pleasure of meeting the other writers on the show and several of the cast members, including the actress who plays Elena’s character, Laura Vandervoort. For a lifelong Kelly Armstrong fan, I have to say she’s the perfect Elena!

It’s funny how life works. How Bitten, a book which meant so much to me as a recent immigrant, continues to have an impact in my life. As a new author with a recently published first novel, it’s inspiring to see a Canadian author have so much international success with her work. I love that I was there, reading her books when they first came out and now, as I ride around Toronto on the subway, I can see posters advertising the TV show her early work inspired AND other posters advertising the release of her new novels.

Bitten, both the book and the TV show are fantastic and no matter how many characters I encounter throughout my life as a reader, I will always have a special place in my heart for Elena Michaels and the women who created her.

Cheers,Ana

Ps. I have dedicated my first novel to the sexy writer who re-introduced me to Bitten (and have shamelessly used him on all my Raven Room related research).

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PROLOGUE

I’m here. Again. How can I stay away?

As I walk down this narrow corridor, I caress the blood-red walls with my open palm and I can feel the energy of the place course through my body. This is the secret. The big secret all who come here have to protect if we want to die and be reborn through our desires. I’m afraid. Afraid I’m depraved. Afraid solitude is all I’m ever meant to feel.

It’s dark. Warm. Sounds of pleasure, sounds of pain, echo around me and I close my eyes. The air in here is different from anywhere else. It’s full. Heavy. I can taste it. The taste of unleashed sexual appetite. I kneel myself at the feet of it all, like a faithful lover. It energizes me. I don’t have to pretend to be that other person anymore, the one who survives in the outside world. Here is where I come to forget. To let go. Here is where I come to be alive. I enter the room and she’s already here. Naked. While her body carries the scars we both have come to love, I carry her scars within me. In my soul. They are ours. The crimson glow of the light embraces her body like I never will. It comforts me. It makes her crave what’s to come. I touch her and the sensation of her skin against my fingertips sends a shiver down my spine. Our eyes meet. A dark prelude. I’m inside of her and while we move together, gasps and sighs escaping our lips, we both know there’s honesty in the gift we present each other with. She allows me to be myself, and I’m weak when I’m being strong. That’s where the beauty of trust lies.